Awning



March 17, 1942. c. E. sKYuM AWNING 3 Sneaks-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 26, 1941 jfzaerzfi? 22112557 601;

March 17, 1942. Q SKYUM 2,276,550 I AWNING Filed Feb. 26, 1941 3 Sheets-Sheet, 3

Patented Mar. 17, 1942 UNETED STATES PATENT OFFICE AWNING Christian E. Skyum, Chicago, Ill. Application February 26, 1941, Serial No. 380,573

7 Claims.

The invention relates to awnings.

One object of the invention is to provide an easily operable device for winding the awning curtain on a roller and raising the pivoted frame to which the lower end of the curtain is attached, which device is self-locking to support the frame in different positions.

Another object of the invention is to provide improved means for locking the pivoted frame against upward movement by wind pressure.

Other objects of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description.

The invention consists in the several novel features which are hereinafter set forth and are more particularly defined by claims at the conclusion hereof.

In the drawings: Fig. 1 is a perspective of a structure embodying the invention, the curtain being shown in dotted lines. Fig. 2 is an elevation of the device for operating the cord for winding the curtain on the roller and the manually operable device for releasing the locking device for the pivoted frame. Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a perspective of the device for operating the cord which rotates the curtain roller to raise the curtain. Fig. 5 is a side elevation of said device, the guide sleeve being shown in section. Fig. 6 is a perspective of a portion of the pivoted awning frame and a portion of the cord for releasing the locking means from said frame. Fig. 7 is a view of the pivoted frame and its locking device in locking position. Fig. 8 is a similar view illustrating the pivoted frame partially raised and the locking device released. Fig. 9' is a section taken on line 9-9 of Fig. 8. Fig. 10 is a section taken on line Ill-I0 of Fig. 7. Fig. 11 is a perspective of the pivoted latch of one of the locking devices for the pivoted frame. Fig. 12 is a perspective of one of the stop members on the side arms of the pivoted frame.

The invention is exemplified with a window casing or frame I5 which is secured in a building wall I6. The window sashes are slidably mounted in said frame in the usual manner. A curtain I'I, preferably of suitable light fabric, has one of its ends secured to a roller I 8 which is rotatably mounted in brackets I9 which are secured to the outside of frame I5. This roller is mounted adjacent the top of frame I5 and is adapted to wind and unwind the curtain for raising and lowering it. The lower end of the curtain is connected to a bail or frame which comprises side arms 26* having their inner ends pivoted to brackets 2| which are fixed to the curtain thereon.

I-8 and to be' lowered by its own weight or gravity as the curtain is unwound from said roller. Frame 20 is also adapted to unwind the curtain from roller I 8' when th latter is released or free to rotate.

The improved device for operating roller I8 to wind the curtain I'I thereon and raise its lower end to swing frame 20 upwardly, comprises a cord 22 which is wound around a spool 23 which is fixed to roller I8. The cord is adapted, when pulled, to rotate the roller to wind the When cord 22 is released it is wound on roller I8 as the frame 25 is lowered. cord 22, from spool 23, passes around a small guide-sheave 24, which is rotatably supported. in a bracket 25 fixed to the outer face of frame I5; thence through a hole in said frame to the inner side thereof and around a guidesheave 2'6 rotatably supported in a bracket 21 which is fixed to and projects inwardly from the inner face of fram I5. From sheave 26, cord 22 extends downwardly to form a pendant loop 22 the upwardly extending terminal of which has connected thereto a hanger 28 formed of a loop of wire. A hook 29, formed of plate metal, is fixedly secured to and projects inwardly from the face of window frame I5 and is adapted to extend through hanger 28.' Hook 2-9 and hanger 28 form a connection .for stationarily supporting the terminal of the cord 22 from the window frame I5.

A manually shiftable grooved pulley 30 engages the bottom of the loop 22 of cord 22 and is adapted to exert pull upon the end of the cord which is connected to spool 23 to wind the curtain I! on roller I8 when said pulley is moved downwardly to lengthen the loop and to permit the curtain to be unwound from roller I8 by the frame 20 when the pulley 30 is raised. Pulley 30 is journaled in a bracket 3| which is provided with a pendant handle 32. An arm 33, which is rigid with handle 32 and bracket 3|, is fulcrumed on a cross-pin 34 which is carried by a collar 35. Arm 33 fits between a pair of lugs 35 and the device for operating cord 22 against upward movement. Pin 34 serves as a fulcrum for arm 33 and bracket 3|. When the handle 32 is released the pull on cord 22 caused by the weight of the pivoted frame which tends to unwind the curtain I! from roller [8, will be applied through cord loop 22 and pulley 39, to swing arm 33 on pin 34 as a fulcrum so that the abutment or cam 33 will be jammed against the stationary guide-rod 36 and thereby lock collar 35 and the pulley against upward movement. When handle 32, which is rigid with arm 33 and cam 33*, is swung on pin 34 toward the window frame [5, cam 33 will move away from rod 36 and release collar 35 for upward sliding movement on said rod. This will permit pulley 39, under control of handle 32, to move upwardly so as to release cord 22 any extent desired for unwinding the curtain I! from roller 18. This construction serves as an automatic one-way clutch which is easily releasable by the operator when it is desired to raise or lower the curtain for holding pulley 39 as soon as handle 32 is released. Cam 33 is fulcrumed so it will slip downwardly along rod 39 when the handle is pulled downwardly and the curtain is raised but as soon as said handle is released said cam will clutch or grip guide-rod 39 and lock collar 35 against further upward movement. A characteristic of this curtain raising and lowering device is that the handle 32 and, pulley 39 act upon the pendant loop 22 of the cord.22. This results in the travel of the cord 22 at spool 23 being approximately twice the travel of handle 32.

The pivoted awning frame 29 is supported in its lowered position by a pair of braces 49 which are respectively pivoted at 4! to the sides of window frame l5. outer end with a hook 42 which is adapted to be engaged by a stud 43 which is rigid with one of the side arms 29 of frame 29. When frame 29 is in its lowered or horizontal position, studs 43 will be seated in the hooks 42 of the braces 49 and the frame will be locked thereby against downward movement. It is also desirable to lock frame 29 against upward movement by the pressure of the wind against the under side of the curtain and automatic locking devices which are manually releasable from the inside of the window are provided for this purpose between the side arms 29 and braces 49, respectively. Each of these locking devices comprises a latch 44 which is pivoted on stud 43 which is fixed in a side arm 29*. The latch 44 is formed of plate metal bent to form parallel sides 44 with a space between them in which the brace 49 is slidably confined transversely and a connecting wall 44 between side walls 44* having a slot 44 through which the brace extends. One side wall 44 of latch 44 is extended, as at 45, to form an ear to which is connected a releasing cord 59 for the latch. The lower edge 44' of the upper portion of cross-wall 44 serves as an abutment or detent for engaging the upper edge of the brace 49 when the stud .43 is seated in hook 42 on the brace and locks the brace and side arm 29* against relative movement so that the frame 29 can not swing downward. A sheath-like sheet metal member 45 is fixedly secured on sidearm 29 and is provided with a stop 46 engageable by a stud 49 which is carried by the lower end of latch 44, for limiting the pivotal movement of the latch in one direction, so that when the latch is released the brace 49' can slide through the latch 44. A spring 41 is connected to a hook Each brace is provided at its 48 on the outer end of member 45 and to stud 49, for pressing the latch 44 into its releasing position so that when the latch is released, stud 49 will engage stop 46 and the latch will permit the brace to slide therethrough. Stud 49 has an upturned end 49 for sliding the latch on the pivot stud 43.

The latches 44 are each adapted to be held in looking position and are manually releasable by a device on the inside of the window. This device comprises a coil spring 59 which is provided at its lower end with an eye 5| whereby the spring can be coupled to a stud 52 which is fixed to the inside of the window frame; a cord 53 which is connected to the upper end of spring 59, extends upwardly to a sheave 54 mounted on the inside of the window frame, thence through a hole in said frame, and around a sheave 55 on the outer side of the window frame, and thence around a sheave 55 which is coaxial with the pivot of the awning frame 29; a pulleyblock 51 to which the outer end of cord 53 is connected; a pulley 58 journaled in block 51; and a cord 59 looped around pulley 58. One branch of cord 59 from the loop around pulley 58 extends around a guide-sheave 99 carried by bar 29 and is connected to ear 45 on the latch 44 on one arm 29*- of frame 29. The other branch of said loop extends around guide-sheaves GI, 62 carried by bar 29' and is connected to the latch 44 on the other side arm 29. When spring 59 is connected to stud 52 it will be placed under tension and exert sufficient pull on cord 53 to move pulley 53 inwardly so that cord 59 will be pulled sufficiently to hold the latches 44 at both sides of frame 29 in the locking position shown in Fig. '7 against the force of springs 41. The frame will then be locked against upward movement by the detent or abutments 44 on the latches 44. When spring 59 is uncoupled from stud 52 and freely suspended from cord 53, there will be no tension on cords 53, 59 and latches 44 will be free to be swung by springs 41 into the releasing position shown in Fig. 8. The latches 44 will be arrested in releasing position by studs 49 and stops 45 When the latches 44 are in their releasing position the detents or abutments 44 will permit the braces 49 to slide through the latches. Braces 49 are provided with notches 49 in their upper edges which are adapted to be engaged by the detents or abutments 42 of latches 44 when the curtain frame is in intermediate positions and to lock said frame against upward movement in such positions. When it is desired to lock the frame in one of the intermediate positions the operator will couple spring 59 to stud 52 when the frame has been raised to any point where the detents 44 of latches 44 will enter one of the notches 49 The tension on cord 53 will then shift latches 44 into locking engagement with the notches 49 The upper end of notches 49 are parallel to the contiguous inner faces of detents 44 when the latches are in looking position so they will arrest the upward movement of the latches and thefrar'ne 29. The bases of the notches 49 are inclined to permit the frame 29 to be lowered without uncoupling spring 59 from stud 52. Spring 59 is provided with a finger-piece 59 for convenience in putting the spring under tension and coupling it to stud 52 and disconnecting it therefrom.

The operation will be as follows: assuming the curtain and frame 29 are in lowered position for use, as illustrated in Figs. 1 to '7, spring 59 will be under tension and coupled to stud 52. Cord 53 will then hold pulley'51 in position to exert an equalized pull on the ends of cord 59 so that they will hold latches 44 in their locking position (Fig. 7) against the force of latch-releasing springs 41. At such time the abutments 44 will engage the upper edges of braces 40 and the hooks 42 and studs 43 will be held engaged by the tension on cords 59 so that the distal ends of the braces will be gripped between studs'43 and abutments 44 so the braces are locked against pivotal movement, as illustrated in Fig. 7. Frame 20 will then be locked against upward and downward movement by the braces 40 which are then locked to the side arms 20 by latches 44. The detents or abutments 44*- will be pressed against the upper edges of latches 44 and coact with hooks 42 and studs 43' to lock the braces 40 against relative movement with respect to frame 23. When the curtain is to be raised, spring 50 will be first uncoupled from stud 52. Latch-releasing springs 41 will then swing latches 44 on studs 4.3 into position to release the braces, as shown in Fig. 8. The braces 40 will then be free to' slide through the latches 44. The latches 44 will be arrested by studs 49 and stops 46 on members 46. The operator will then grasp handle 32 and pull it downwardly until the frame and curtain 'l'! have been raised. The handle is free to be rotated downwardly because the cam 33 is effective to clutch the guide-rod 36 only to prevent upward movement of collar 35 while permitting downward movement of said collar and the parts carried thereby. The downward pull on handle 32 lowers the pulley 30 and elongates the loop 22 in cord 22 below hook 29 and unwinds said cord from spool 23, which rotates the roller [8 and winds up the curtain I! to raise the frame 20. As soon as the handle 32 is released the upward pull of cord 22 on pulley 30 produced by the weight of frame 20, swings arm 33 on fulcrum 34 to automatically force cam 3'3 into clutching engagement with guide-rod 36, so that pulley 30 will hold cord 32 and prevent lowering of the curtain and frame 20. This clutching effect occurs at any point in the range of travel of collar 35 on rod 35 so that the frame 20 may be raised to its upward limit or to intermediate points. If it is desired to lock the frame 20 at intermediate points the spring 50 will be coupled to stud 52 to shift, through cords 53, 59, the latches 44 so the detents or abutments 44 will pass into corresponding notches 40 in braces 40 and lock frame 20 against upward movement from the intermediate position. The lower edges of the braces 40 will then engage studs 43 and the tension on cables 59 will swing the latches so their abutments 44 will pass into notches 48 The upper ends of the notches 40*- will then engage the inner faces of the walls 44 at the upper ends of the latches 44 when upward pressure is applied to the frame. The clutch device between handle 32 and rod 36, through cord 22, roller l8 and curtain l1, then holds fram 20 against downward movement. When the curtain I! and frame 20 are to be lowered the operator will grasp handle 32 and swing it slightly toward the window casing. This will swing arm 33 on fulcrum 34 so that cam 3'3 will be disengaged from guide-rod 36 and pulley 30 will be free to be raised through cord 22 and roller 18 by the weight of the awning frame 20 under control of handle 32. As soon as handle 32 is released, the clutch cam 33 will automatipivot for frame 20 so that the operative relation between spring 50 at the inside of the window and the latches '44 which are carried by'the side arms 20 of the awning frame, will not be changed by the swinging movement of the frame 20.

The invention exemplifies a device for operating the curtain roller to raise and lower the curtain and the pivoted'frame, which is simple in construction and which can be easily and smoothly operated. The invention also exemplifies improved locking means for securing the awning frame against upward movement which provides for locking the frame in its lowered and intermediate positions.

The invention is not be understood as restricted to the details set forth, since-these'may be modified within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. The combination with an awning structure comprising a frame pivoted to an awning support, a curtain connected to said frame and a roller on which the curtain is wound, carried by the awning support, of a cord having one of its ends connected to a fixed support and its other end connected to rotate the roller, the cord having a pendant loop adjacent its fixed end, a vertically movable element engaging the bottom of the loop and adapted to vary its length to rotate the roller and raise the curtain and frame, and means for holding the element to retain the lower end of the loop in different vertical positions.

2. The combination with an awning structure comprising a frame pivoted to an awning support, a curtain connected to said frame and a roller on which the curtain is wound, carried by I the owning support, of a cord having one of. its ends connected to a fixed support and its other end connected to rotate the roller, the cord having a pendant p adjacent its fixed end, a vertically movable element engaging the bottom of the loop and adapted to vary its length to rotate the roller and raise the curtain and frame, a vertical guide, and a one-way clutching device movable vertically with said element and adapted to grip the guide for holding the element to retain the lower end of the loop in different vertical positions.

3. The combination with an awning structure comprising a frame pivoted to an awning support, a curtain connected to said frame and a roller on which the curtain is wound, carried by the awning support, of a cord having one of its ends connected to a fixed support and its other end connected to rotate the roller, the cord having a pendant loop adjacent its fixed end, a vertically movable element engaging the bottom of the loop and adapted to vary its length to rotate the roller and raise the curtain and frame,-a vertical guide-rod, a collar slidable on said rod and on which said element is mounted, and means for securing the collar on the rod to hold said element so as to'retain said element indifferent vertical positions. 4'. The combination with an awning structure comprising aframe pivoted to an awning support, a curtain connected to said frame and a roller onwhich the curtain is wound, carried by the awning support, of a cord having one of its ends connected to a fixed support and its other end connected to rotate the roller, the cord having a pendant loop adjacent its fixed end, a'vertically movable element engaging the bottom of the loop and adapted to vary its length to rotate the roller and raise the curtain and frame, a vertical guide rod, a collar slidable on the rod, a bracket carrying said element and pivotally supported by the collar, and provided with one way clutching means for engaging the rod so as' to retain the collar in different positions on the rod.

5. The combination with an awning structure comprising a. frame pivoted to an awning support, a curtain connected to said frame and a roller on which the .curtain is wound, carried by the awning support, of a cord having one of its ends connected to a fixed support and its other end connected to rotate the roller, the cord having a pendant loop adjacent its fixed end, a vertically movable pulley engaging the bottom of the loop and adapted to vary its length to rotate the roller and raise the curtain and frame, a vertical guide, a bracket on which the pulley is mounted, and means for holding the bracket in different vertical positions on the guide.

6. The combination with an awning structure comprising a frame pivoted to an awning support and including side arms and a cross-bar,

braces for supporting the frame, pivoted to the support, and means for raising and lowering the frame, of latches pivoted to the side arms and provided with means for locking the braces to the side arms to prevent upward movement of the frame, a cord connection for shifting the latches into locking position, including a spring, means for holding the spring under tension to hold the latches in locking position, the spring being releasable to remove the tension and to render the latches ineffective to lock the braces, andmeans for shifting the latches into releasing position when the tension of the spring is removed. I

7. The combination with an awning structure comprising a frame pivoted to an awning support and including side arms and a cross-bar, braces for supporting the frame, pivoted to the support, and means for raising and lowering the frame, of latches pivoted to the side arms and provided with means for locking the braces to the side arms to prevent upward movement of the frame, a pulley, a cord having one of its ends connected to shift the pulley, a cord extending around the pulley and having its ends connected to the latches, respectively, a spring suspended from the other end of the cord which is connected to the pulley, and means on a stationary support to which the spring is connectable so as to hold it under tension to shift and hold the latches into locking position and from which the spring is releasable to remove the tension, for rendering the latches ineffective to'lock the braces, and means for shifting the latches into releasing position when the tension of the spring is removed.

' CHRISTIAN E. SKY'UM. 

